Jay Clemens
The U.K.’s air force has completed the refueling test trials for the Lockheed Martin-built F-35B Lightning II short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, The Aviationist reported Tuesday.
Todd Miller writes the Royal Air Force used an A330 Voyager tanker to conduct 18 air-to-air refueling tests during a seven-week detachment to Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
The joint RAF-Patuxent River Integrated Test Force team concluded the trials one week ahead of schedule, according to the report.
The team performed day, twilight and evening plugs between the F-35’s in-flight refueling probe and the tanker’s hose and will use test data to assess the wing pods and the fuselage refueling unit prior to a potential flight clearance and initial operating capability for the U.K.’s F-35B in 2018, Miller reports.
